Can I leave 15 &16 year old alone for the day

[NADINENURSE]

I can not ride rides d/t back injury, DS 15, and DD16, can. They have been alone in WDW for a couple of hours at a time and have taken WDW transport to hotel to DTD and back. Please advise me if you think I can leave them alone for the day at Universl and IOA ? I know they will not seperate from either other (have never before), and both have cell phones, I plan on giving them $20 for food each, and dropping them off, hubby not going this time, this will be 8/18-8/20, what do you think ?!??! Thanks !

 

[damo]

I wouldn't have any problem with it if it were my kids.

 

[vellamint]

I am considering allowing my four teenagers, 17, 16, 14 and 14 go to the parks themselves for an afternoon while my husband and I enjoy the pool at the Hard Rock.

Just considering it mind you - havent made up my mind yet but that is more a feeling that once I let them on their own they wont WANT to hang out in the parks WITH us anymore .

 

[Metro West]

I am considering allowing my four teenagers, 17, 16, 14 and 14 go to the parks themselves for an afternoon while my husband and I enjoy the pool at the Hard Rock.

Just considering it mind you - havent made up my mind yet but that is more a feeling that once I let them on their own they wont WANT to hang out in the parks WITH us anymore .

They should be fine.

 

[phamton]

Some 16 year olds are already working at the park. My youngest started working at Islands of Adventure part-time when he was 16. His brother worked at Universal Studios when he was 17.

I say yes, but I also let my sons have some time at the parks together alone when they were 13 and 14. They had cellphones and stuck together.

 

[donaldduck352]

Thats the big thing, communication. The parks have alot of security. MyDD17-DS14 do there own thing all the time.Cell phones are great.They will be fine.

Instead of giving my kids money We get them gift cards.We stayed 4days last trip,so we gave them $100 in gift cards apiece.$25 a day per to do buy whatever they want

 

[Figment22]

I tend to be a very overprotective parent, but even I have let my two sons hang at USF/IOA on their own from the time they were 13 and 16. If you've already allowed them to be on their own at WDW, I don't think you should have any qualms about letting them be on their own at Universal.

I would, however, consider giving them more than $20.00 each for food. More like $30, in my opinion.

 

[cc1954]

My 14 plus son and his best buddy have preferred annual passes, and I frequently allow them to roam the parks together. The prior email is right - cell phones on at all times, with time frames set for "call in". If I hear of incidents or sudden storms, they call in.

 

[Disneyhappy]

I am more comfortable leaving teens on their own at USF than WDW, only because everything is so close together at USF. We always stay on site and since the kids were 13, we let them walk over from the resort to the parks. We woul dmeet up later. This summer we will ahve three 16 years olds who will have their own room. They are very responsible and I have no concerns letting them off on their own. We will do some meals together and hang a little bit but they fully intend to be independent. These are very good kids, responsible. I totally trust them. I also feel they will be safe on USF resort property. I consider wyself over protective. If cell phones were not in existence, I probably wouldn't allow so much freedom. At 13, they had to call in every hour. Same for 14. At 15, they had to call in every two hours. I'm not sure I can switch to every 3 hours for age 16 this summer. My son is working on me!

 

[donaldduck352]

I am more comfortable leaving teens on their own at USF than WDW, only because everything is so close together at USF. We always stay on site and since the kids were 13, we let them walk over from the resort to the parks. We woul dmeet up later. This summer we will ahve three 16 years olds who will have their own room. They are very responsible and I have no concerns letting them off on their own. We will do some meals together and hang a little bit but they fully intend to be independent. These are very good kids, responsible. I totally trust them. I also feel they will be safe on USF resort property. I consider wyself over protective. If cell phones were not in existence, I probably wouldn't allow so much freedom. At 13, they had to call in every hour. Same for 14. At 15, they had to call in every two hours. I'm not sure I can switch to every 3 hours for age 16 this summer. My son is working on me!

I'm with'ya on this,Its hard to see them grow up.But got to let them spread thier wings...

 

[vellamint]

I'm with'ya on this,Its hard to see them grow up.But got to let them spread thier wings...

I know....but I dont want to (stamps her foot). I am really afraid that they will leave me and my husband in the dust and just want to be off on their own without us

I WANT to tour the parks with them - is there something wrong with me lol!!

 

[NADINENURSE]

I feel much mroe ecure after all your posts, I will definately give more $ for food, my kids appreciate your help

 

[donaldduck352]

I know....but I dont want to (stamps her foot). I am really afraid that they will leave me and my husband in the dust and just want to be off on their own without us

I WANT to tour the parks with them - is there something wrong with me lol!!

Thats my prob too.They are getting older and I'm trying to cope.We held on so long to keep it close,but 1day they do grow up.

So with that,I'm Dis inout.But think about this, we were once teenagers ourselves.How did we rebel!! Now that were older it all comes into play And we talk about the problems.

Goodnight everyone. We'll Dis tommarow!!!

 

[leahjade]

My brother and I were on our own at the parks since we were 10! Of course, those were different times back in the stone ages, but I think the parks are definitely safe for teens!

 

[Dragonmouse]

15 and 16...I'd make sure BOTH had cell phones and tell them to keep in touch. There are kids that are about 16/17 working in the park but let's say it out loud "they're still your babies! " and...they always will be. It's scary thinking of them out there but...I have no doubt they'll be fine.

They'll have a BLAST. I'd make a couple of simple rules on them to stick together, keep their cells on and charged, check in every once in a while and have fun.

 

[ky07]

Sorry don't want to make anyone mad but my 2 ds's are 16 and 12 and I just can't see letting go thru the park alone epecially the 12 year old and I love Universal but there are still people out there that will do anything to kids whether its busy in the park or not plus being out of towners ourselves I just can't see letting them go to the park by thier selves

 

[JLTraveling]

Well, each parent knows his/her kids best of course, but I can't fathom even having doubts as to whether kids over age 10 or so would be okay alone at the parks. I have a different perspective on it, since I grew up in the Orlando area. I went to day camp every summer, and we regularly did field trips to the theme parks. Universal didn't open till I was 14, but we used to go to Disney, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, even the water parks.

The day camp rule around here is simple, and standard among several different programs: Under age 7 must stick with a counselor. Over age 7 must use the buddy system -- no going off by yourself, but two or more kids together are fine. So I've been in the parks without adult supervision since the age of 7, and I lived.

I graduated high school a bit early, and when I was 16 I had my own apartment and a job at Universal. I guess I grew up fast, but it certainly didn't hurt me...nor did it make me stop wanting to tour the parks with my parents -- back in the day, Universal team members got VIP back door access to all attractions, and I used to take my parents to the park every weekend. We could hit every attraction multiple times before my shift started at 3.

I know it's hard to let your kids grow up, but they're generally a lot more capable than we give them credit for. Just my two cents of course.

 

[MrsSparrow..]

Hiya. I am 15 and my brother is 14 and last summer we went round the theme parks by ourselves. Our parents just made sure we had designated meeting points at a specific time, we would've used cell phones but due to being from the UK, they wouldn't have worked or would have been ridiculously expensive to use.

I'd say it's fine, but you know your own children

 

[macraven]

i had no issues with letting mine do the park together without me present.
UO is not that huge where they could get lost.

lots of plain clothes security at the park all the time.
that place is safe.

about phoning you every 2 hours might be difficult.
if they are on a ride or in a show, it might worry you if you didn't hear from them at the 2 hour mark.

most people get a locker when they do the water rides.
once you are wet, you usually repeat the ride.
that could cut into a lot of time and make that 2 hour window an issue for them.

you have to do what you feel most comfortable with.
if the kids stayed together and had info on your contact 411, any tm would assist them in case of a dire need.

you might want to give them more than $20 for food for the day.
or you could buy them the meal deal on line and that would cover the majority of the food for the day for them.
then give them money for sodas/water for the day and a snack if need be.

 

[cbdmhgp]

My Ds's are 15 and 17. d we usually let them do whatever they want, as long as they are together though. I have complete faith and trust in my kids, that they know what's rght, and they know their way around USR. This will be are 7th trip with my 2 sons, so they know their way around the whole resort pretty well.